Worst things said by your interviewer?

[gary5]

Hey, what are the worst things that your interviewers have said?

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[oompa loompa]

1.) When they spend the whole interview talking monotonously about their school, with no pause for you to chime in. Then they reject you.

2.) When they tell you repeatedly that you're definitely going to get accepted and seem to expect some sort of "OH, THANK GOD" response from you. Is that the way med school admissions works nowadays? And then they reject you.

 

[jwnduke]

Hey, what are the worst things that your interviewers have said?

My AdCom interviewer (at my state school and my top choice within reason) bascially told me he expected to hear from my sister who is a fourth year at the school. When she went to see him, he told her that he thinks I will get in this year but he was not sure it would be there, this year. He spoke to her for twenty minutes, and asked my sister many questions about community service which he did not touch on with me?!?

 

[DrBowtie]

My AdCom interviewer (at my state school and my top choice within reason) bascially told me he expected to hear from my sister who is a fourth year at the school. When she went to see him, he told her that he thinks I will get in this year but he was not sure it would be there, this year. He spoke to her for twenty minutes, and asked my sister many questions about community service which he did not touch on with me?!?

Don't really see how that is bad.

 

[jwnduke]

Don't really see how that is bad.

Brett, undrestood. A wishy-washy review from an AdCom interviewer raises questions, if not in your mind then in mine! I have read some of your posts, if this is the first time we have spoken directly, best of luck to us all!

 

[firebird69guy]

My interviewer at Penn State rambled on about how the students are spoiled and think they should be "fed with a silver spoon." He said this after I asked what would he change about the medical school, if anything. Then he said that the school is not desirable because it's in the middle of nowhere and they don't get diverse cases like you would in an urban hospital (probably to see how I'd respond).


Anyways, it was a little depressing...

 

[Turkeyman]

My interviewer set me on fire and threw me out the window.

 

[DrBowtie]

I saw someone post that the interviewer blatantly told them they are underqualified for the school.

 

[letmein!please?]

My interviewer set me on fire and threw me out the window.

I would gladly light myself on fire for an acceptance to my top school. Would it be 1st floor or higher? eh, doesn't matter.

 

[jwnduke]

My interviewer set me on fire and threw me out the window.

ha ha... respect, and I know how you feel! HILARIOUS!

 

[deleted50541]

1.) When they spend the whole interview talking monotonously about their school, with no pause for you to chime in. Then they reject you.

I had an interviewer like that too. He just would not let me get a word in edgewise. He went on and on about his blood bank and tissue/organ transplant research. While I was interested to hear about his work at first, it seems that my inquiry signaled that he had free license to ramble on as much as he pleased.

 

[BooMed]

It wasn't that bad or anything, but my interviewer asked me if I'd ever comforted anyone. Who hasn't comforted someone?

 

[deleted50541]

From a student interviewer: "Have you ever been in a situation that required teamwork?"

What sort of response do they expect? "No, of course I haven't. I despise working with others."

 

[Saluki]

Interviewer: What does your mom do for a living?

Me: My mom deteriorated mentally after her divorce and has been unemployed for the past ten years.

Interviewer: Why doesn't she go to the doctor? There are medications for that....

In my mind : No duh!

 

[BooMed]

From a student interviewer: "Have you ever been in a situation that required teamwork?"

What sort of response do they expect? "No, of course I haven't. I despise working with others."

Another obvious question!

 

[Tonic1025]

My interviewer asked me all about a musical instrument I played. After my spiel, he told me he doesn't like that instrument. (!?!?!)

 

[Tigerstang]

Interview: "I feel like giving a spot to someone who wants to go into healthcare policy would be a waste of a seat."

Me: "Clearly this institution, which claims to train physician leaders, is not for me. Thank you, and have a good day."

Yes, I left in the middle of the interview.

The joy of holding acceptances.

 

[Labslave]

Interview: "I feel like giving a spot to someone who wants to go into healthcare policy would be a waste of a seat."

Me: "Clearly this institution, which claims to train physician leaders, is not for me. Thank you, and have a good day."

Yes, I left in the middle of the interview.

The joy of holding acceptances.

Mad props.

 

[shibby1983]

Interview: "I feel like giving a spot to someone who wants to go into healthcare policy would be a waste of a seat."

Me: "Clearly this institution, which claims to train physician leaders, is not for me. Thank you, and have a good day."

Yes, I left in the middle of the interview.

The joy of holding acceptances.

Oh I've been so tempted to do the same at some of my later interviews. That takes a boatload of moxie which I unfortunately do not possess.

 

[novawildcat]

Interview: "I feel like giving a spot to someone who wants to go into healthcare policy would be a waste of a seat."

Me: "Clearly this institution, which claims to train physician leaders, is not for me. Thank you, and have a good day."

Yes, I left in the middle of the interview.

The joy of holding acceptances.

You are my freakin hero(ine). Can I send you some Christmas cookies?

 

[theunderdog]

You are my freakin hero(ine). Can I send you some Christmas cookies?

You can mail those cookies to me. Chocolate macademia nut. Thanks.

 

[Orthodoc40]

Interview: "I feel like giving a spot to someone who wants to go into healthcare policy would be a waste of a seat."

Me: "Clearly this institution, which claims to train physician leaders, is not for me. Thank you, and have a good day."

Yes, I left in the middle of the interview.

The joy of holding acceptances.

SWEET!!!

 

[tigress]

One interviewer asked what specialty I'm considering. I gave my whole speech about how I'm not sure, I'm interested in many of them, but I'm considering emergency medicine. The interviewer then said, "Emergency physicians are prostitutes," and proceeded to spend 10 minutes bashing them. After which he concluded with, "Of course we'll always need emergency physicians."

 

[LucidSplash]

Paraphrased:

Male Interviewer: "Why do you want to go into medicine? You should get an MPH or a masters in Public Policy, these are far better fields than medicine where you feel guilty all the time for not spending time with your kids."

Female Me: "I believe it is possible to balance work and family. My aunt and uncle are both physicians and have raised two sons to adulthood who are intelligent and well-adjusted individuals. Also, they are both currently in medical school. I aim to follow my aunt's example."

Male Interviewer: "Your cousins probably won't be very attentive parents either."

Female Me: "....."

(I have no children as of yet; however, his office walls were plastered with drawings done by his two young children).

I was waitlisted.

 

[Elastase]

Interview: "I feel like giving a spot to someone who wants to go into healthcare policy would be a waste of a seat."

Me: "Clearly this institution, which claims to train physician leaders, is not for me. Thank you, and have a good day."

Yes, I left in the middle of the interview.

The joy of holding acceptances.

That is awesome!!!

 

[Freakedout]

One interviewer asked what specialty I'm considering. I gave my whole speech about how I'm not sure, I'm interested in many of them, but I'm considering emergency medicine. The interviewer then said, "Emergency physicians are prostitutes," and proceeded to spend 10 minutes bashing them. After which he concluded with, "Of course we'll always need emergency physicians."

lol what school was this... it hilarious

 

[kaffy]

One interviewer looked at my file, frowned, and said, "Whoa. What happened?" and not in a good way, either....

 

[gujuDoc]

1.) When they spend the whole interview talking monotonously about their school, with no pause for you to chime in. Then they reject you.

2.) When they tell you repeatedly that you're definitely going to get accepted and seem to expect some sort of "OH, THANK GOD" response from you. Is that the way med school admissions works nowadays? And then they reject you.

Your number 2 sounds like a job interview I had a few years ago.

I had interviewed with this pharmacology lab, which ironically my roommate now does her thesis research in. This was like 3 years ago. The guy told me I had a very very very high chance of getting the job, gettingmy hopes up and all. Then he told me he was going to hire someone else instead. The clincher: THEY were a freshmen and I was a sophomore so they would be there one year longer, was his justification.

 

[gujuDoc]

It wasn't that bad or anything, but my interviewer asked me if I'd ever comforted anyone. Who hasn't comforted someone?

I don't think the question itself is weird, so much as the way it is worded. It is along the lines of them wanting to see what kind of compassion you have.

I think it is almost equivalence of them asking what in your life you've done to show compassion towards someone in need.

 

[gujuDoc]

Paraphrased:

Male Interviewer: "Why do you want to go into medicine? You should get an MPH or a masters in Public Policy, these are far better fields than medicine where you feel guilty all the time for not spending time with your kids."

Female Me: "I believe it is possible to balance work and family. My aunt and uncle are both physicians and have raised two sons to adulthood who are intelligent and well-adjusted individuals. Also, they are both currently in medical school. I aim to follow my aunt's example."

Male Interviewer: "Your cousins probably won't be very attentive parents either."

Female Me: "....."

(I have no children as of yet; however, his office walls were plastered with drawings done by his two young children).

I was rejected.

Out of curiosity what school was this?

 

[Beau Geste]

My interviewer set me on fire and threw me out the window.

As God is my witness, I thought Turkeys could fly!

 

[justskipee]

My friend was being interviewed by an old pediatrician who asked her about what books she read in this lit class freshman year. She replied Jane Eyre, and then was asked who wrote it, which she had forgotten. Then she was asked about an art class she took, about what was her favorite painter and period. She said like van gogh and the blue period, and the interviewer asked her when the blue period was! She of course didn't remember. What an ass of an interviewer, he of course somehow knew the dates exactly.

 

[gujuDoc]

My friend was being interviewed by an old pediatrician who asked her about what books she read in this lit class freshman year. She replied Jane Eyre, and then was asked who wrote it, which she had forgotten. Then she was asked about an art class she took, about what was her favorite painter and period. She said like van gogh and the blue period, and the interviewer asked her when the blue period was! She of course didn't remember. What an ass of an interviewer, he of course somehow knew the dates exactly.

They do things like that to see if you are bullsh1tting them to try to impress them or if you took such classes because they really interested you.

I still remember my favorite book from my English lit class freshmen year. It was 100 years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

My friend was being interviewed by an old pediatrician who asked her about what books she read in this lit class freshman year. She replied Jane Eyre, and then was asked who wrote it, which she had forgotten. Then she was asked about an art class she took, about what was her favorite painter and period. She said like van gogh and the blue period, and the interviewer asked her when the blue period was! She of course didn't remember. What an ass of an interviewer, he of course somehow knew the dates exactly.

Ooouucchh. Although in all fairness, your friend shouldn't have brought up topics that she is unable to fully talk about, and the interviewer's subsequent questions were fair game.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

As God is my witness, I thought Turkeys could fly!

They can. In fact they are very strong fliers and very maneuverable due to their stumpy rounded wings.

 

[Orthodoc40]

They can. In fact they are very strong fliers and very maneuverable due to their stumpy rounded wings.

...and they can run up to 35 mph!

 

[Tigerstang]

You are my freakin hero(ine). Can I send you some Christmas cookies?

it's hero, and only if they're peanut butter

the best part was that i beat the traffic as a result of leaving early!

 

[ahumdinger]

I walked into my 3-person panel interview at UW. I hadn't even sat down yet, and the first thing they say is, "So, I see you're barely a Washington Resident!"

My parents moved there after I graduated high school, so I'm a resident by a convenient technicality. But geez, at a school that accepts almost no OOS applicants, I was off to a rough start!

 

[LucidSplash]

Out of curiosity what school was this?

OOPS. I meant to write waitlisted. I was waitlisted, not rejected.

U of Maryland, last year.

 

[AxlxA]

Guess i'll add my short story to this thread. Hope the interviewer/ad com doesn't read here.

We were talking about my origins(Hong Kong).

Interviewer(F): I visited Hong Kong once, for work related reasons.

Me: How did you like it... How long were you there.... etc etc

Interviewer(F): Those women were very short. Most I saw were about 5 feet.

My internal monologue: WHAT?! SHORT? 5FT? YOU ARE A GIANT!!!! (She looked like she was 5'10")

Me: Oh really, I haven't noticed.


Result: Waitlisted.

 

[Beau Geste]

They can. In fact they are very strong fliers and very maneuverable due to their stumpy rounded wings.

Reference to WKRP. Ok. I'm old.

 

[mdforlife]

Interview: "I feel like giving a spot to someone who wants to go into healthcare policy would be a waste of a seat."

Me: "Clearly this institution, which claims to train physician leaders, is not for me. Thank you, and have a good day."

Yes, I left in the middle of the interview.

The joy of holding acceptances.

i feel like believing you, but noooo? Did you really do that?

 

[Orthodoc40]

Guess i'll add my short story to this thread. Hope the interviewer/ad com doesn't read here.

We were talking about my origins(Hong Kong).

Interviewer(F): I visited Hong Kong once, for work related reasons.

Me: How did you like it... How long were you there.... etc etc

Interviewer(F): Those women were very short. Most I saw were about 5 feet.

My internal monologue: WHAT?! SHORT? 5FT? YOU ARE A GIANT!!!! (She looked like she was 5'10")

Me: Oh really, I haven't noticed.

 

[Turkeyman]

Well guys, not while I'm on fire I can't!

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Oh, the throwing turkeys out of a helicopter thing..... I remember that now (from reruns)

Note: Wild turkeys can fly, but many varieties of domestic turkeys are not flightworthy. This is the useless trivia fact for today.

 

[popbirch]

I'm from utah where the majority of people are mormon, I, however, am not. But I'm about the right age and the school I was at had a fairly good background from premeds from utah and my interviewer asked me where I went on my religious mission for 2 years because all the mormon kids go on a mission when they turn 19. I responded that I was not mormon and my interviewer was visibly embarassed for assuming to know my religion based on where I live. It took a minute or two to sort of smooth things out but it was quite uncomfortable. I was accepted about 2 weeks later. So the lesson that I learned is if you can get your interviewer to feel guilty for asking a dumb question or regret their line of questioning you are a shoe-in.

 

[jebus]

So the lesson that I learned is if you can get your interviewer to feel guilty for asking a dumb question or regret their line of questioning you are a shoe-in.

Thanks for making me laugh. That's the best lesson I've heard in a long time.

 

[gary5]

I'm from utah where the majority of people are mormon, I, however, am not. But I'm about the right age and the school I was at had a fairly good background from premeds from utah and my interviewer asked me where I went on my religious mission for 2 years because all the mormon kids go on a mission when they turn 19. I responded that I was not mormon and my interviewer was visibly embarassed for assuming to know my religion based on where I live. It took a minute or two to sort of smooth things out but it was quite uncomfortable. I was accepted about 2 weeks later. So the lesson that I learned is if you can get your interviewer to feel guilty for asking a dumb question or regret their line of questioning you are a shoe-in.

I agree, maybe more-so for a female interviewer.

 

[socerbal94]

After I finished the answer to an ethical question, my interviewer said:

"Wow, I feel personally insulted"

 

[snumie]

Interviewer at Albany: How do you think you can possibly compete with a 22 year olds mind?

me (age 37, 3.75 undergrad, 3.96 grad -PhD, presently teach 1st year med students histology): I am not going to med school to compete..

the rest of the interview was just as bad as that question- surprised I got waitlisted